The Secret Lives Of Local Opera Singers

When you see someone singing onstage at the Florida Grand Opera or the Adrienne Arsht Center, do you think about what goes on behind the scenes -- not just the costumes or the sets, but in the singers' lives?

Believe it or not, some of South Florida's opera singers work in electrical and mechanical engineering, accounting, education and law enforcement during the day.

The Engineers

Husband and wife Martin Nusspaumer and Maria Antunez worked as engineers in their native Uruguay.

"In Uruguay, if you're a singer, it's like you are not working," says Martin. "You're just having fun, so you need to study something more serious than singing."

Here is Martin Nusspaumer as Ismaele in Nabucco for Florida Grand Opera in January.

Credit Courtesy of Martin Nusspaumer.

So for five years, Martin studied and worked as an electrical engineer, designing car alarms for Uruguay's automobile industry.

Then he moved to Montevideo, the country's capital, for further schooling. Across the street from the engineering building was a music school.

Martin felt an impulse and walked in to ask for voice lessons. Then he started simultaneously training as an engineer and as a tenor.

"The whole day when I was working, I was listening to opera -- especially Pavarroti, and I was dreaming about it," says Martin.

Here Maria Antunez is playing the character of Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni in 2012.

Credit Scott Suchman

Electrical engineering and opera training eventually became too much for him to handle. So Martin chose opera.